Up Rise and Downfall
by Terrence Fan
Summary: Sequel to Demon Blood. Dante has come back to Panic, and decided to work for Hades in the Underworld. But Panic suspects that he's more after revenge than trust... What's worse is that he might be after Pain, as well. [Chapter 6 things are about to change
1. Prologue

**Up rise and downfall**

**By Terrence fan**

**Prologue**

**WARNING: Following fanfic contains more gore, violence, and cursing than "Demon Blood", and includes some suggestive content, such as sexual content, in later chapters, as well...**

He was all alone.

Not a single worry on his mind, which was unusual, being a walking stress-attack, always having something to worry about. But now, he just lay on his back, arms behind his head, alone on a beach, no idea how he got there, or even why he was there, but at least it was quiet.

Just when everything seemed so peaceful, he heard a strange noise in the distance.

The teal imp sat up, looking around to see nothing but sand, and the long endless ocean ahead of him. Seeing nothing, he tried laying back to relax, just as he did he saw a small flash in the distance. It was dim, but still bright enough to see. Whatever it was, it was getting on his nerves.

Panic got up on his feet, he couldn't see much, it was foggy, yet the ocean was so clear.

Then he saw it again, getting brighter, and getting closer as well. Panic took a few steps closer until he saw two bright red eyes in the fog. It wasn't until he heard a cold, familiar voice that he knew who it was...

"PANIC."

He felt paralyzed in fear. There was nothing he could do... But run.

If only he could fly, but it was as if his wings were gone. As he ran, he was surrounded by nothing but darkness and fog, he looked around to see where he was going and if he was, at all, being followed. He could still hear a very cold, wicked laughter, no matter where he went, he couldn't escape it. Soon, it was almost all black, he froze in his steps.

There was barely anywhere else to go. It seemed like the end of the line. It sure felt like it, too.

"Oh, Panic...", The cold voice said. "Where do you think your going? Did you really think it was over?"

Panic stepped back a few steps, until he nearly fell into a deep gap in the ground, as he whipped around it was a large hole with a wooden open coffin inside.

As he looked around, his vision became clearer, he was in the middle of a cemetery, and in front of him, next to the hole, was a tombstone with his name on it. His eyes grew wide in shock of this discovery, this couldn't be. He wasn't dead, he WASN'T dead... At least, not yet.

He turned away to run, but then a figure that was standing behind him, stopped Panic in his way, grabbing both of his arms, lifting him barely an inch off the ground. The figure turned out to be a demon he recognized, not Pain, but from the shape and size of it, he knew very well who it was. Dante. At that moment, the demon pushed Panic into the coffin, he slammed against the bottom hard, the lid then quickly closed.

"No! Let me out, please!", Panic cried, as he was slamming and scratching against the inside of the coffin. He tried to get out, he kept screaming, scratching, and even kicking against the coffin.

There was nothing he could do. He felt the air becoming thick, he could barely breathe. Tears streaming from his eyes. Everything grew darker and darker, he thought this was it. He was going to die... _It was all over._

_

* * *

_

He woke up, back in the Underworld. Panting heavily, in a cold sweat. For once, he was glad to be in the Underworld, at least Pain was there. He scanned the room to see if either Pain or Hades were around. He was instead in the hall, sitting against the wall.

As soon as he was calm, he felt a hand touch his shoulder, and a soft voice say, "Panic--".

He let out a shriek and fell on his back against the hard, stone floor.

"Panic! It's me!" Said Pain, Panic's partner in crime, grabbing a hold of his shoulders trying to calm him down. When he saw it was just his fat, magenta demon companion, he gave a sigh of relief, then got back up.

"Man, Im so glad it's you, for a second, I thought it was Hades..."

"Yeah," Was all Pain could say. "Uh, Panic? Have you been okay?"

That depended on Pain's definition of 'okay'... "Sure," Panic replied. "Why?"

"Well, lately, you've been acting a bit strange, not to mention you've also been having nightmares for a while." Pain told Panic.

Trying to avoid the conversation, all Panic said was, "Uh, no. Of course not." Shaking his head, he headed down the hall.

Running after him, Pain quickly grabbed his long, thin, devilish tail, stopping him from running any further.

"Panic, I wasn't born yesterday. And I know when your not exactly being honest". Pain said. He lightly tugged Panic's tail.

Panic just pulled away his tail to get Pain to loosen his grip on Panic's tail. He hesitated for a short while until he finally spoke.

"Well... Oh, okay." He sighed in defeat. "You remember what happened about a week ago?" A frown came on his features.

"You mean when you and I got separated after that hurricane, when Hades sent us out? Yeah." Pain replied.

"After you and I got separated," Panic continued, "I was out for a while, and when I woke up I was on this island with no idea where I was, it wasn't too long before I met another demon who called himself Dante. After a while we spent some time with each other, I kinda... Began to like him--"

"What?" Pain interrupted. At the same time, a little shocked.

"Well, I don't know. Him and I got a bit attached after a while, but then..." Panic's voice began to sound more angry, and, at the same time, sad. "Later, he just used me to break this curse that was on him, so he could get off the island and return him to normal, he even tried to kill me! I was lucky to get out of there alive, I had trap him to get away. Now, I can't help but feel like he'll be coming after me soon." He was about to burst in tears, but tried the best not to cry in front of Pain, he was lucky Hades wasn't there, he'd hate to cry in front of his dark master.

Pain was a little surprised to hear this, but it would've explained the wounds on Panic after he found him. "Did you really love him?"

"No!" Yelled Panic. "I did, not like that... But not anymore! The thought of him just makes my blood boil!" He sighed, to try to calm himself. "All the time, I thought he actually liked me or something. I just can't get him out of my mind."

Pain put his arm around Panic's shoulder, to calm his teal, horned demon friend.

"It's okay..." Pain said to Panic in a soft voice. "He's gone, isn't he? There's no way he'll ever get you now."

"No, it's not." Panic protested. "I let him trick me, and almost kill me! He could still--"

"Don't worry, Panic." Pain interrupted, again. "I'll be here for you. Everything is going to be okay. You know I'd never let anyone or anything hurt you."

"You really mean that?" Panic asked.

Pain responded with a "Yes," This answer relieved Panic. The magenta imp put his arm around Panic as he continued. "You know that I'm always here for you, buddy." Both of them walked down the hallway together.

"Yeah, I guess your right," Panic agreed.

At that moment, they heard their master's voice echoing down the hallway.

"PAIN! PANIC!"

Immediately, they ran off at once, trying to see what their dark master's orders were this time.

* * *

"So," Hades began speaking. "Tell me again, why do you want to work for me?" 

The dark demon only answered, "Because, you need a demon like me, one that _can_ get the job done. I ensure you that you won't be sorry." He seemed promising enough to Hades.

Hades tapped his chin with his fingers, trying to decide rather to hire this new demon, or not. Before he gave it another thought, he asked, "Do you promise to work for me, for all eternity, not talk back when I give you orders, and do _everything_ I say?"

"No problem," answered the demon, crossing his arms. "Who wouldn't want to follow someone as brilliant as you?"

Feeling very admired by his comment, Hades brought out his hand, as did the other, they both shook to their agreement. "Fine then, it's a deal." Hades said. "By the way, what's your name again?"

"Just call me Dante." The demon answered. That name was a little familiar to Hades, he had heard of a great monster by that name, one who was most notorious for the massacre of millions. But he knew that this puny, little thing couldn't be the Dante he was thinking of.

As soon as Pain and Panic walked into the room, Panic stopped in his steps, gasped at the sight of the same dark demon who threatened to kill him a long while ago, standing on Hades' table. He couldn't believe his eyes, all this time he thought he'd gotten away from that maniac. Maybe he was right about those dreams...

When Dante caught a sight of his "friend", a grin widened across his face. A cheery look brightened in his eyes.

"Panic, honey, Im home!" He raised his arms in the air as he greeted Panic. The green demon could only stare, shocked at what he was seeing. "Did you miss me? I sure missed you, so much."


	2. Return

**Up Rise and Downfall**

**Chapter 1**

"What's _he_ doing here!" Panic asked Hades, pointing a finger at Dante.

"Didn't you hear?" Dante asked, hopping off the table and walking towards the teal imp. "I'm working for Hades, now. Besides, I just had to come home to you, hon!" He put his arms tight around Panic's body. "I've also got you to thank for my freedom... Remember that little spell you thought would finish me off?"

Panic quickly realized his mistake. "No... Wait--how did you find your way down here?"

"Lets just say a friend of yours gave me directions to here," The black demon answered.

Before Dante could continue any further, Pain asked, "Who's this creep?"

When the black demon turned toward the magenta imp, scowling, Panic answered Pain's question. "You remember what I told you earlier about Dante?"

Pain's eyes widened. "_This_ is him?" He pointed at the demon.

"You got it." Dante answered, letting to of Panic, the teal imp immediately scampered away. "Oh, and don't point fingers at people," He pushed Pain's finger with his hand. "It's rude."

Pain could only pull his hand away. "Yeah, you would know _alot_ about that!" He glared into the other demon's eyes.

"Wait, hold it, hold it!" Hades interrupted them, breaking up their little fight. "First off, how do you know Panic?"

"I guess you can say he's my boyfriend." Dante said, pulling Panic closer to his side, scratching his chin (or if he had one).

Hades was a little surprised by this. "Since when did _you_ have a boyfriend!" He asked.

"He's NOT my boyfriend!" Panic pulled himself away from Dante. "He is my ex-friend." Dante tried scooting towards Panic, who in response stepped back away from him, then the teal demon took cover behind Pain.

"Well I don't care what he is," Hades said. "You guys just settle your little differences and show him around. Got it?"

"Got it," The two imps sighed. They and Dante walked down the hallway, giving the new demon a tour of the Underworld, and told him how things worked there.

The whole time, Panic didn't trust Dante at all, nor did Pain. After the events on the island, he was highly suspicious of his motives. Was he coming back for revenge? He had to be, there's no way he could suddenly have a change in heart, plus he remembered what Dante swore before he left.

After showing him around the Underworld, Dante finally asked Panic, "What's wrong?"

Panic whipped around, an angry look on his face. "You wanna know what's wrong? It has something to do with a bastard named "Dante" who once back stabbed me, that's what!" With that, Panic stomped off. He never wanted to see Dante's face ever again.

"Oh, but Panic," Dante stopped Panic in his tracks. "That's all in the past now, and besides, it really did hurt me to think I had to hurt you at that time. But never again. You know I'd never ever want to hurt you. I love you too much." His voice so soft. He stroked Panic's body with his hands, Pain noticed it.

"Hey, paws off, pal!" He shoved Dante away from Panic, obviously a little annoyed.

A glare appeared on Dante's face when the magenta demon stood in his way. "Who is this?" He asked, his voice very low.

"My partner in crime, and friend, Pain." Panic told him.

"Oh, so this pink blob is the _friend_ you told me about..."

"Who are you calling a 'pink blob'?" Pain asked, feeling very insulted.

Dante only glared for a few seconds before saying anything. "Well," He began, putting one arm around Pain's neck, almost choking him. "Any friend of my boyfriend, can a friend of mine, as well." At first Pain struggled to get loose, but in the end, just crossed his arms and pouted, while Dante gave him a fake, friendly grin. He knew that Dante was up to no good from the tone in his voice.

"For the record, friend," Pain said to Dante. "He's not your boyfriend!"

"Sure he's not," Dante said sarcastically, looking over at Panic. The teal imp could only turn away.

* * *

Panic took his clipboard and headed down the hallway with Pain, off to do another checkup on the Titans. Just then, Dante came out of nowhere, right behind Panic, startling the imp, and nearly made him drop his clipboard. "Where are you going now?" He asked. 

"Me and Pain gotta do another checkup on the Titans," Panic answered. "But I don't think you want to come along, it's pretty dull and boring."

"Nonsense," Dante insisted, gesturing with his right hand. "Any job with you along isn't boring at all..."

Panic sighed. "Fine, you can come," This filled Dante's heart with joy. "But no fooling around."

"You got, baby," Dante said in an almost seductive voice. Panic just tried to ignore it.

* * *

When the imps and Dante reached a dark rocky cliff, Pain stopped at one ledge of the cliff, and looked down to the crystal blue ocean, every once in a while the water splashed against the bottom cliff. He hesitated and whispered to Panic in private, making sure the black demon didn't hear a word. 

"Panic," He said in a quiet voice. "Incase anything _happens_ up here, just give me a yell, okay?" Panic nodded.

Then Pain morphed into a magenta fish and dove into the sea. Panic watched Pain swim down into the water, while Dante only leaned against the rocky wall, never taking his eye off of the teal demon holding the clipboard. Grinning, he walked over to who he thought was his 'boyfriend'.

"So," He started. "What do you and Pain normally do after a job-well-done?"

"Head back to the Underworld," Panic answered.

"That's it?" Dante asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Don't you do anything else with your time?"

Panic turned toward the dark demon. "Yeah, I hang out with Pain."

Dante only responded sarcastically, "My, what an _exciting_ life you have..." Panic shot him a quick glare.

A few minutes later, Pain jumped out of the water, and morphed back into his normal form. Panic ignored Dante for a moment and turned his attention to his magenta friend.

"How's the Titan status?" The teal imp asked.

"The same as usual," Panic answered. "All the Titans are sound asleep."

Panic checked off the Titans' names on his check board with a feather pen. "Did you check all the Titans?" Panic asked.

"Yep, every single once of them." Pain reassured his partner, crossing his arms.

Dante began to feel a little out of the group, so he decided to start another conversation. "Great," He said to them, putting an arm around Panic. "So what do you say we take a break or something, you know? It'll be my treat."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Panic brushed Dante's arm off of him. "We have to get back to--"

"Back to the Underworld, or Hades will throw a little fit?" Dante asked, interrupting Panic's sentence.

"Yeah, he would." Panic told Dante. "Besides, we don't have time for any of that."

"Man, do all you guys do is work?" The black demon asked the two imps. "When do you guys ever get to have a little... Fun?"

Panic didn't answer, while Pain just scowled at Dante, of course the dark demon scowled back.

"Maybe," The teal demon said. "But for now, he have to be heading back." Both Pain and Panic flew off, Dante followed, muttering to himself.

* * *

In the Underworld, Panic had finished the last of the work Hades told him to do. On his way out of one of the rooms in the place, he bumped into that black demon, he dropped some of the papers he was carrying. Dante's arms were behind his back, trying to look innocent, but looks couldn't fool Panic, at least when it came to Dante. 

"Is that a paper in your hand, or are you just so happy to see me?" Dante asked the imp, smirking.

Glaring, Panic picked up some of the fallen paper off the floor and walked off out of Dante's way, but that didn't stop the black demon. "Hey, what's the hurry?" He asked, grabbing Panic's shoulder.

"Nothing," Panic replied. "I just got some work to do." Panic was starting to get a little irritated by Dante.

"More work?" Dante asked. "Aww, but all work and no play usually makes little Panic a dull boy..." He began fondling Panic's shoulders.

"Hands off!" Panic swatted away Dante as he continued out to the hallway. Then he felt the black demon grab his shoulders.

"Im just trying to be a little polite," He told Panic. "What do I have to do to get a little trust around here!" The black demon hissed. Panic only pushed Dante away from him.

"Maybe you can start by trying to earn it." Panic said to Dante's face, and with that, he walked out into the hallway on his way to tell Hades the latest news in the Underworld. Dante only stared off at the teal imp, with an unpleasant expression on his face as he only muttered to himself, walking to opposite way.

* * *

When Panic was done with most of his work, he decided to check up on Pain, but he couldn't find him anywhere, nor could he find Hades, either. It was pretty strange, too, since him and Pain always worked together, where could he be? 

After checking most of the rooms in the Underworld, he thought that maybe Pain was in Hades' throne room. When he got there, he spotted near Hades' stone chair, there, leaning against the bottom of it, was Pain, his back facing the teal demon. When he saw his partner there, he was much relieved, though he wondered what he was doing there. _Maybe he's just taking a nap,_ Panic thought to himself. He went over to the magenta imp, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Pain," He whispered. "Are you okay?" He pulled the other's arm, Pain's body turned, revealing a horrifying sight to Panic.

His stomach was gashed open, his ribs showing, some of his organs ripped out and hanging out, and his eye balls were missing from the eye sockets, and blood leaked out of them, as well. The teal imp screamed seeing his friend mutilated, it hurt to look at such a repugnant sight. He fell down the stairs, due to the shock and his clumsiness, and into the deep gap that was in floor of the room. But instead of falling into a bottomless pit, he plunged backwards into a pool of thick black liquid of some sort, it was almost like blood, it sure felt like it.

He surfaced, gasping, coughing and hacking out whatever it was he fell into. Panic tried hard to swim to the other side, but for some reason he felt dense in the black water, but he pulled all (or whatever) strength he had and swam over to the opposite side of the room, got out, and ran off to find whoever did this to Pain. And he had a pretty good clue of who was behind it.

"Dante!" He yelled out as he reached the hall. "What did you do!" Panic wasn't at all happy of what he saw, and he knew Dante had to have done it. As he ran down the dark hall, which felt like forever, he felt something drop on his long nose; that stopped him in his tracks. When he rubbed his hand on the spot, he looked at his fingers to find smeared blood. Now he became terrified, his eyes grew wider, he looked up to find the ceiling dripping with the dark red blood, some of the drops landed on Panic's face.

It became creepier when blood began leaking through the walls, some of it spread on the floor, making a thin pool of blood, it was like looking into a crimson waterfall. The imp covered his eyes with his hands, shutting his eyes tight, but still peeked through in between his fingers. "This can't be happening!" He tried telling himself. He couldn't find a way out, he found himself trapped between the bloody walls. Just then, he heard something that sounded like children singing, very monotonously.

"_He's coming for you,"_

Panic couldn't believe what he was hearing at all, he clamped his hands against his head trying to cancel out the chanting, leaning against the wall. "Stop it," He muttered.

"_You better hide,"_

The teal imp shook his head, he just wanted the voices to go away, to leave him alone. He couldn't figure out where they were coming from, after all, he was all alone... Wasn't he? "Leave me alone!" He shouted, digging his fingers further into his head.

"_Get a crucifix,"_

Finally, the teal imp decided to run further down the hall, hoping to escape the voices, while kept following him.

"_You gotta get away,"_

Eventually, he couldn't take any more of it. The imp slammed his fists against the wall, which was still pouring blood, pounding his head against a large mirror, keeping his eyes shut, he could still hear the voices. "STOP IT! MAKE IT STOP!"

"_Never be alone again,"_

"SHUT UP!" He pounded his fists even harder into the wall, they began to feel numb and sore. The voices began to fade away.

"_Don't ever be alone, again,"_

Then he raised his head and looked into the mirror to see himself in a mess, covered with the black liquid and a bit of blood, too. "Please, wake up!" He said to himself, already on the verge of breaking into tears.

Suddenly, the mirror shattered before him, and in the many shards of the glass, came out Dante, lunging at Panic, grabbing him by the throat, pinning him to the ground. As surprised as he was, Panic tried all he could to loosen the black demon's grip on his neck, but it was no use. It was hard to breathe.

"Panic,"

He nearly forgot about Dante strangling him when he heard Pain's voice calling out to him, but from where? He glanced around trying to find the source of where his friend's voice was coming from.

"Pain," He tried to speak, with Dante's hands around his neck, digging his claws into his skin. "Please, help me!"

"Panic!"

* * *

"Panic, wake up!" Pain said to his friend, who was lying on the table in Hades' throne room, shaking him by his shoulders. After shaking him enough, Panic's eyes snapped open, gasping, and looking around the room to find everything normal, or at least normal for the Underworld. His gaze led up to Pain, who still had his hands on the imp's shoulders. Once the fat, magenta imp came to his senses he let go of Panic, while the other sat up, realizing he had been sleeping on the table the whole time. 

Whiping some of the sweat on his forehead with the palm of his hand, he turned to Pain. "When did you get here?" He asked.

"When I heard you screaming from the other side of the Underworld." Pain answered. "Did you have a nightmare that had something to do with Dante?"

"Why do you ask?" Panic asked.

"Because, when I came in here, you were kicking in your sleep and yelling something about him. I think that _might've_ given me a clue." Pain answered, with a "No duh" tone in his voice.

"Oh right," Panic responded. " It's just that first I had nightmares before he came, and now he's here. It's like this guy's haunting me! By the way, where is he?" He was a little nervous from his dream.

Pain noticed this, and wanted to ease the teal imp. "The last I saw him, he was kissing up to Hades." Panic was relieved by this. "Don't worry, pal, I know you don't trust him; to be honest, neither do I. It'll be all right, I won't let him hurt you."

"Why would I do that?"

The two imps whipped around to see Dante enter the throne room. It seemed like the demon had heard them speaking before he came in.

"How long were you standing there?" Pain asked.

"I just came in," Dante replied. "But don't worry, I was'nt listening in on you guys."

Pain and Panic only glanced at each other before Panic asked, "What are you doing in here?"

Dante only stared at him for a few seconds before answering. "I was just about to ask the same thing." He continued. "Hades has been expecting you two an hour ago..."

Both imps looked at each other, and ran into the hall in a hurry. Panic must've slept on the job and didn't realize it until now. Alot of the work can really tire out someone, even him.


	3. Love and war

**Up Rise and Downfall**

**Chapter 2**

"Where've you guys been?" Hades demanded the demons, Pain and Panic, who were followed by Dante.

Panic still had that nightmare in his mind, he just couldn't forget about it, as though it were a message, a message from his conscience. It had to have been. But now wasn't the time to think of it, he had work to do, and Hades seemed impatient today (as usual).

"Oh," Panic began. "I was just--"

"Just checking up on the new arrival of souls," Pain interrupted to get Panic out of trouble.

"Good," Hades said in a fake cheery tone, then back to his apathetic self. "So, what's in store for me today?"

Before Pain or Panic could answer him, Dante spoke out first. "I already took care of that."

Hades turned at Dante. "Excuse me?" He asked.

"Like I said," He answered. "While Pain and Panic were "oh-so" busy, I took care of some of the other work in the Underworld." The demon handed him a clip board of his work completed. "See for yourself."

When Hades looked through Dante's status, he was pleased by the results. "Yeah, nice work," He complemented. "Much better than a few certain imps I can think of..."

Both Pain and Panic knew who Hades was referring to; them, of course. Who else?

* * *

"'Yeah, nice work'," The magenta demon repeated what Hades had said earlier about Dante, in a mockery of the way he said it. He only snorted at that comment. "Geez, me and Panic never got a comment like _that_ before..." Pain muttered to himself. Just as he was on his way to get Panic, Dante snuck up from behind him and stepped in Pain's way. The magenta imp halted when he noticed the black demon. 

"What do you want now?" The imp demanded, scowling.

"Nothing," Dante answered. "I just came to talk, _pal._"

Pain was definably not in the mood for discussions. Especially with the likes of Dante. "Thanks, but Im a little--"

"Don't tell me your busy." Dante interrupted, putting an arm around Pain's neck, bringing the magenta imp closer. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say either you and Panic either hate me, or are just jealous of my work."

"If I were you, I'd go with the first one." Pain snapped at him, taking Dante's arm off him.

Dante then glared. "I can't understand why you and Panic have to hate and avoid me." Pain was about to answer him, but the black demon continued. "Sure, I've done some wrong in the past, but that's over, now. And I haven't done anything wrong since I've gotten here, have I?"

The magenta imp wasn't sure how to argue with that. It was definably a true statement. But still, after what Panic told him, he wasn't sure to trust him just yet. "Yeah... At least not yet."

That made Dante a little more irratated, but he still tried to contain his temper. "I guess I'll have to talk to you some other time, since you have so much work on your hands." He said. But before he left, he grabbed Pain's face, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Pain was stunned in surprise. "Later, pal." He let go of Pain's face and ran off. The fat imp only shivered in disgust of what Dante had just done.

"Eww!" He whined, whipping the side of his face where Dante kissed him with his hand. "Gross!"

* * *

"Hercules, you say?..." Dante asked Hades, who was telling him of his defeats from the hero. 

"Yeah, I just can't get rid of him," Hades complained angrily, slamming a fist onto the table with some of his miniature figurines that shook from Hades' strength.

After a short pause, Dante decided to make a suggestion. "Why don't you use the pool of forgetfulness? I heard it worked with the gods that one time." Panic had told him this once.

"Actually, I tried that," Hades said. "For some reason, Pain and Panic screwed up after getting lost."

The black demon flew down and sat on the table Hades stood over; this brought back the memory of when him and Panic first met. "When did that happen?" He asked.

"About a week or so ago," The dark lord answered. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason at all..." The black demon answered. Hades became a little suspicious for some reason.

"How did you meet Panic, by the way?" He questioned the demon.

"Well," He began nervously, almost as if he was thinking of something to say. "Lets just say, he came to me." He smirked. "Him and I definally have a relationship developing."

"Then why is he avoiding you?" Hades asked.

That question only made Dante a little more nervous to answer. He didn't feel like answering to something like that. "Forget that," He tried to change the topic. "Maybe we should focus more on defeating Hercules? Hmm?"

Panic was about to walk into the throne room to speak to Hades, but immediately halted and stood back behind the corner and listened to Dante and Hades talking. It seemed, to him, that Dante was just a little too close to Hades. When Dante wasn't stalking him, he usually seemed to chat with their dark master.

Their conversation was a little hard to understand, it just sounded like mumbling from where Panic was. Oddly, the way Dante and Hades were talking got on the teal imp's nerves a little. He and Pain might kiss up to Hades a few times, but Dante seemed to be doing it a little too much. When Dante looked over his shoulder to see Panic, he just grinned at him as if he was saying that he won. The imp could only frown and stomp off into the hall.

* * *

A few days had passed since Dante came to the Underworld, and it was usually the same thing with him. He'd spend most of his time stalking Panic, talking to Hades, or try to act friendly around Pain and Panic, but Pain knew he was only pretending. When they first met, he could see the jealousy in the black demon's eyes when he got between him and Panic. Though Pain was just trying to do what he thought was best for Panic, and it was obvious that Dante being here definably was _not_ a good thing at all for him. But it wasn't like there was anything he could do, except avoid him. It seemed he was there to stay... 

One day, Pain and Panic were on their way to bring some of their paper work on their clip boards, Panic brought up a conversation, for some reason.

"Pain," He said to the magenta imp, as they were walking down the hall on their way to Hades. "Doesn't it bother you that Dante kisses up to Hades almost all the time?"

"Yeah, I find it a little annoying sometimes," Replied Pain. "Why?"

"No reason, really," The teal imp said. One of the papers slipped off of Panic's clip board and he bent down to get it. "Oh great..." He muttered to himself.

"C'mon, pal, you know Hades is gonna--Ahh!"

His last few words were cut off when he seemed to trip over himself as we walked back towards Panic. When the teal imp put the paper back on the clip board and got up, the fat magenta imp fell onto him, and they both dropped on the floor, with Pain on top of Panic. They normally would've just gotten up, but once the two imps looked at each other into the other's eyes, they became lost in the moment, not speaking a single word. Both blushed lightly, feeling a little embarrassed from the awkward moment.

Then, Dante's shocked voice broke the silence, and their moment. The two imps both turned to see the black demon standing there, only a foot or two away from where they were. He could only stare with a surprised look in his eyes when he saw Pain on top of his "lover".

"I-It's not what you think!" Pain said, waving his arm a little. Him and Panic glanced at each other before the magenta imp got off of him, the teal imp sat up, and turned towards Dante. "It was an accident, you see."

Then the black demon's expression changed to something more serious, calm, but still trying to control his rising anger. "Oh, I see," He said in a low tone, which sounded a little sarcastic, before he walked off. Once he was out of their sight, he pounded his fist against a wall angrily, grunting a little.

At the moment Dante was gone, Panic got up once again. "We better get going." He said to Pain, still a little embarrassed from what happened.

"Yeah, sure." Pain responded. The two demons walked off, trying to pretend that never happened. But it was, in a way, difficult. During that moment, they both felt a very strong, warm feeling between them which felt uncomfortable, but at the same time, wonderful. Though now wasn't the time to think about that, since they both knew they had work to do.

After the two disappeared in the distance of the Underworld, Dante, who was staring at the imps together, took his eyes off them and continued down another hall, still a little peeved--and disgusted--by what he saw. At the same time, he was also a little confused, as well. When he was just barely hugging Panic, he got angry at him, but when Pain was on top of him like that, he didn't seem angry at all. _Why is that?_ He wondered in his thoughts.

Without warning, he accidentally ran into Hades, he looked up to see his master with a cheerless look on his face, which wasn't unusual for someone like him.

"Have you seen Pain and Panic?" Hades asked Dante.

"You just missed them, they went that way." Dante answered, pointing toward the hallway Pain and Panic went.

Hades only walked past him, the bottom of his robe swirled in smoke as he walked. The black demon stared for a while, then walked off, wondering about Panic, both arms crossed behind his back. What did he have to do just to earn Panic's respect? So far, he's tried helping out, but even that wasn't good enough. Like Panic said to him before, he'd have to earn his trust. But how? He doesn't know much about Panic to know how he'll ever gain respect. _Maybe I should just give him some time,_ he thought to himself. Yes, of course... After all, it would probably just take a while until Panic accepts the idea of him being in the Underworld. And if that didn't work; he also had other ideas in mind, as well. But first, he'd have to wait until panic was alone, that is.

* * *

"Hey Panic," Pain said to his partner. "You coming or not?" 

The teal imp was gathering up some of the last paper work and stacking them together onto the smooth, stone table in one small room. "Go ahead without me," He responded, with a hesitant tone in his voice. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay pal," The magenta imp shrugged, and walked off, leaving Panic by himself in the room, looking over some of his paper work. But that wasn't why he wanted to be alone.

After what happened between him and Pain, he felt so nervous to be around him, now. He couldn't figure out why, either. He and Pain had been friends and partners for a long time now, why would he be so nervous around his own friend? But at the same time, he also felt something else; a warm feeling inside whenever Pain was around, a strong emotion in his heart that he couldn't describe. But Panic knew that he couldn't avoid Pain forever, he does work side-by-side with him, after all. As mixed up as felt, he was going to face up to these emotions sooner or later.

The teal demon heaved a sigh before becoming lost in his thoughts. Unknown to him, Dante came up from behind him and looked over his shoulder to see what he was doing, with a friendly smile on his face. When he felt a presence next to him, Panic looked over his shoulder, and when he saw the black demon, shrieked and flinched forward against the table in front of him. Once he calmed himself, the imp shot a glare at him.

"What do you want now?" Panic demanded, obviously a little annoyed by Dante. The black demon didn't answer.

Very quickly, he lunged at Panic, forcing him on top of the table, pinning both of his hands down; hard. The teal imp struggled to free himself, although Dante was a little too strong for him. He looked up at the black demon, who's friendly smile was replaced with a seductive grin, sitting on top of him. Now, Panic only had a frightened look in his eyes.

"Get OFF me, you sick-o!" The teal imp shouted.

"If Pain got to do it, then why not me?" Dante asked. He leaned forward and nudged his nose against Panic's. "This is just like old times, no? Now why don't we make it that way..."

Panic shook his head. This time, Dante was becoming a little impatient. "Just kiss me, skinny boy!" He brought his face closer to the teal imp, who whimpered a little, trying to get away from the demon.

"No!" Panic cried out. Of course, that didn't help at all.

"HEY!"

They both turned in time to see Pain across the room, looking very peeved at Dante. "Get off of him, you creep!" The magenta imp shouted as he ran towards Dante, then he leapt at him, knocking him off of the table, and Panic. The black demon wasn't too contempt when Pain did that.

"Get off me, fat boy!" Dante yelled at Pain.

Once Dante regained his strength, he pushed the magenta imp off of him, causing him to knock into the table. He staggered to his feet and glared at the black demon. The other glared back. "Why can't you just stay out of my way?" Dante demanded, rather rudely.

"Why can't you just leave Panic alone?" The magenta imp asked as well."That reminds me," Pain brought up. "You kissed me a few days ago, what was _that_ all about!" The black demon ignored his question.

"Well," Dante huffed, brushing himself off. "I'm sorry to be in _your_ way, fatty." With that, he walked off calmly, but turned his head to Pain before he left. "And I thought we were friends..." His expression turned to anger. Then he left the room without even glancing at Panic.

After he was out of sight, Pain turned his attention to Panic, who by now got off the table. "What do you mean he kissed you?" Panic asked, a little confused by the fact that Dante obviously didn't like Pain at all.

"Nothing," He replied. "Are you all right, pal?" The magenta imp asked sounding concerned.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," The teal imp answered. "Although, now I think have a stalker." But he didn't think; he knew. Panic knew that the next time he would be alone, the demon would be all over him... But not as long as he had Pain by his side. He didn't even want to think about being alone anymore. As awkward as he felt around his partner, it didn't matter, he'd do anything to avoid Dante.

Anything.


	4. Broken

**Up Rise and Downfall**

**Chapter 3  
**

When Hades was in his throne room, ready to leave for a usual meeting on Mount. Olympus, he called out to his imps. "Pain, Panic, Dante!" His voice echoed down the hall and rang through the whole Underworld. It wasn't too long before the three demons ran in and halted in front of their master, awaiting his orders.

"Yes, your flamely-ness?" Dante wondered.

"Listen," He told them. "I'm going to be gone for a while at the meeting with the gods, you guys better keep things here in order and try not to wreck anything while I'm gone..."

"You can count on us." They said at once to Hades, saluting.

As assuring as they sounded, Hades knew that no matter what they'd always fail at everything he ordered them to. But at least he wouldn't be gone too long. He only walked past them down the hallway, leaving them alone with Dante. Once he was gone, Pain turned to the black demon. "'Flamely-ness'?" The magenta imp asked. To him, that just sounded so cheesy.

"Oh, and _you're_ less of a kiss-up than I am..." Dante said sarcastically.

Pain only ignored that insult, and decided to walk out of the room along with Panic. "Now that Hades isn't around," He said to his partner. "What do you wanna do?" Panic did have some ideas in mind, but he wasn't sure if now was the best time to make his move. Although he didn't have much on his mind, since he hadn't gotten much rest; but he didn't want to have anymore nightmares...

"I don't know," He said, then Dante came to his mind. "Why don't we just hang out somewhere... Alone." Pain caught onto what he meant.

"Okay..." Pain replied.

* * *

When Dante left Hades' throne room, Pain and Panic had gone in there, knowing that he wouldn't be in there while Hades was gone. No one was really suppose to be in there while their master was away, but once or twice they've been in there themselves; lucky for them they were never caught.

While they were there, Panic leaned an elbow against the table, resting his head in the palm of his hand, his tired eye lids twitched a little as he tried to keep his eyes open while just staring off into space.

When Pain noticed, he asked his partner, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Panic managed to say. "Just a little tired, is all."

"Maybe you ought to get some rest," Pain suggested. "You look like you're ready to fall over."

Panic didn't take that advise. "I'm fine." The teal imp exclaimed. "There's just been so much work to do, is all." He looked over at Pain. For some reason, he had a hard time looking into his partners eyes, those eyes that showed concern and confusion. It just made him a little more nervous, so he looked away, staring at the table. But what was worse was that he became filled with mixed feelings; not that it was anything new. He had them for a long time now. Long enough that he forgot when it began. By now, Panic was in his own world; in his own thoughts. Trying to forget about Pain and Dante, hoping it would ease his nerves.

That didn't do any good... Things began to feel a little awkward for both of them.

"Do you need some time alone, or something?" Pain finally asked.

_No,_ a message came up in Panic's mind, trying to warn him. _This is just was Dante wants..._ He realized it was true.

When Panic didn't reply to his question, Pain headed off. "Wait," His teal friend said, taking a few steps toward him. "Where are you going?"

"I just thought you needed some time to yourself since you're kind of quiet."

The imp shook his head. "We don't have to talk much just to hang out."

Pain took a good guess of what Panic meant. "Oh... Dante, right?"

"Maybe..." Panic sunk his head into his shoulders and hid his arms behind his back embarrassingly.

Unknown to the two imps, Dante was listening to their whole conversation behind the corner of a wall. Their words were a little faint, but what they were talking about didn't matter to him. He was just waiting for Pain to leave or Panic.

"Come on already!" Dante muttered impatiently, trying his best not to let them hear him. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he peeked around the corner, doing his best to make out their words, but stay hidden, as well.

The rest of their conversation echoed down the hallway. "It's okay." Pain told Panic. "I don't exactly like him after what he tried to do to you." Then he added in awkwardly, "Why don't we find a better place to hang out."

"Sure." Panic replied perkier than he was a while ago.

"Damn," The black demon whispered. "I'm never going to get him at this rate!" Once he heard their foot steps coming closer, he dashed off behind another corner, yet close enough to hear them as they passed him by, together.

Dante wasn't sure where they were going, but he wasn't too far behind to follow them.

* * *

"So, what's been on your mind?" The magenta imp asked his partner.

He and Panic sat at one of the few tables in a sort of "hang out" place in the Underworld, which was usually pretty empty; or at least when Pain and Panic came there.

"Nothing much," Panic answered, sitting only a foot or two away from Pain. "Just Dante, you know."

Not too far from them, Dante was watching them from a distance. From what he heard, it just sounded like a normal conversation between two friends. Though after what happened between them just a few days ago, he didn't think of taking his eyes off of them for a second.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Pain agreed. "That reminds me, I haven't seen him around much." He looked around cautiously.

"Me neither," Pain agreed with the magenta imp, scooting over to him a little. Something in his head was screaming at him. _Tell him! Tell him now, while you have the chance!_ He wanted to so badly, but there wasn't anything he could say. Every possibility was erased from his mind, even though he wanted to say his feelings to Pain. If only he could. Perhaps he was rushing himself; maybe it wasn't the right time, but when will it be? In the end, Panic gave up. Now didn't seem like the right time.

From what he has gathered so far, Dante, who was getting tired of waiting, figured that maybe Pain and Panic were unaware of each others' feelings or they didn't have any for each other. Either way, it meant that Dante has a shot at Panic. A wicked grin widened across his face when he was coming to his conclusion, but then he saw what could've been the two imps leaning closer to one another. For a moment, a look of shock appeared on the black demon's features. He couldn't let this happen. Thinking quickly, he came up with a plan that seemed stupid, but could work. Especially since he was desperate to keep Pain and Panic away from each other.

The black demon snuck up to the two imps and just stood behind them for a second before speaking. "Oh, Panic, there you are." Pain and Panic turned to look at Dante standing there, innocently. They glanced at each other than Panic got up and took a few steps toward Dante.

"Now what?" Panic demanded. The tone in his voice sounded a little angered.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," Dante claimed. "I just want to talk to you." He glared at Pain. "In private." He growled. The magenta imp only nodded, Dante took Panic's arm and walked over to where he was out of Pain's sight; but not out of his hearing distance. The magenta imp ran towards their direction and stopped when he was a foot or two away. He listened to what they were saying, incase Dante had any bad intentions.

Once he thought Pain couldn't see or hear or see them, he set his gaze on the teal imp. He wasn't too sure what to say now, but something came to mind. "Why have you been avoiding me so much?" This time, a saddened look appeared in his eyes.

"You know why!" Panic snapped at the demon. "After what you pulled on me not too long ago, how am I suppose to trust you?" He was about to turn away when Dante halted him.

"I just wanted one little kiss," Dante said. "It's not like I want to hurt you, or anything."

"Well, you could've fooled me." Panic told him, referring to what happened on the island just weeks ago.

"That's all over, now! You and I can start new again." He held Panic's hand in his. "What do you say?" He asked with hope in his heart, staring into the other's eyes.

**I wanted you to know**

**That I love the way you laugh**

**I wanna hold you high**

**And steal your pain away**

Panic didn't know what to think of that. Part of him was telling him to just leave the bastard; he's not worth it. At the same time, another part of him told him to give Dante another chance. But he still couldn't forgive him after he tried to kill him and act like it was okay.

After a short pause, Panic's only response was: "No."

"What?" Dante asked as his eyes snapped even more open in surprise.

"I'm sorry," Panic said to him pulling his hand away out of Dante's grasp. "But it's probably going to be a while until I _ever_ want to trust you again."

"Why...?"

"By now, I think you already know." With that, the teal imp walked back to where Pain was. Obviously, they were both a little relieved.

While they went off into the distance, Dante stood in the same spot, completely stunned. He saw the raw anger in Panic's eyes. It was so obvious he hates him now. Although, he could still be having a hard time trusting him, or maybe he was just tired. But even he couldn't fool himself when it came to the truth (or at least what seemed like the truth to him).

He felt something rising in his eyes; something he never felt before. Tears. Dante put a hand at the bottom of his left eye and took some of the tears and looked at it. He even tasted the substance; it wasn't at all an unpleasant taste.

Focusing back on Panic, he looked around to see he was alone. Again, he felt more tears come out of his eyes and trail down his face. This was the first time he had ever cried, and once he began it was hard to stop himself. He dropped to his knees and let the tears fall. Dante tried to say something but his lips could only tremble, and his eye lids struggled to open. Losing control of his actions, he banged his head against a rough wall and skid it downwards, not caring how much it burned his forehead.

'**Cause Im broken when Im lonesome**

**And I don't feel right**

**When your gone away**

It didn't make any sense to Dante. How could Panic keep turning him away when he hasn't done anything to him at all? As he tried to think about it, the answer popped into his mind, and his eyes snapped open. Pain. It was all his fault! _No wonder Panic won't go near me,_ Dante thought. _Now he chose that fat bastard over me!_ Of course. Why else would Panic spend so much time with Pain?

"So that's the way he wants it, huh?" Dante asked, turning to his left. His eyes were now a little red from all the crying, and his cheeks stained with tears.

His anger was reaching it's peak.

**You got a way you don't feel me here anymore**

* * *

**Lyrics ©**** Seether and Amy Lee**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters (except for Dante), they're all a © to Disney.**


	5. New tricks

**Up Rise and Downfall**

**Chapter 4**

Pain had a difficult time carrying some of the delicate vases and walking down the narrow hallway of the Underworld on his way to Hades. The vases were up to his head, blocking some of his vision, not to mention they were so heavy that the magenta imp could barely walk and had almost stumbled over once or twice. He couldn't help but look over his shoulder a couple of times to make sure Dante wasn't around. After all that had happened he knew that the demon would do anything to get his hands on Panic. Even if it meant taking him out of the picture. Just the thought of what he'd try to to do him made the imp shudder. So he tried to ignore the thought and move on.

He was coming close to a corner, then a hoofed foot came out and tripped Pain over. All at once he fell to the ground, the vases flew out of his arms and shattered as they hit the floor. The imp look up as soon as he heard them break. A frown spread across his face. "Ah man!" The magenta imp whined.

A familiar laugh caught his attention, and he turned to whoever had tripped him. And, of course, it was Dante. "You should watch your step then, next time." The black demon mocked him, then laughed again. Pain finally grew irritated by Dante and leapt at him, but the demon was too quick. When Pain got up, he caught a sight of him running off on all four limbs. He followed him for a while until he came around a corner where the demon stood. Without warning, the black demon grabbed a hold onto one side of Pain's head and pushed him against a wall. He struggled to get loose, but the ache in his head didn't help, nor did Dante holding onto him.

"Pain, it's good to see you," Dante said, sounding rather cheerfully, but in a fake cheery voice. "I've really been needing to talk to you."

When he assumed Pain was weak enough, he let go of the imp and watched him fall to the floor. Then he grabbed onto his hair and pulled him close to his face; their eyes connected. He could feel the demon's foul breath on him which penetrated his nasal cavity and almost made him sick to his stomach. There wasn't at all a pleasant look in Dante's eyes. "Now that your here, listen up!" The black demon demanded. "I just want you to stay out of my fucking way! And stay away from my Panic." This time, Dante seemed a little more angrier than usual.

"What are you talking about?" Pain questioned. "Panic is NOT yours, you know. I don't think he even wants to be near--" The rest of his sentence was cut off when Dante shoved him against the wall again.

"Look," Dante spoke. "Just stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours."

"Fine," Pain agreed. "What do you want?"

This time, Dante leaned closer to Pain. "What did I just say? I never want to see you with Panic again. Got it?" The tone in his voice sounded more serious, as did the glare in his eyes.

The short pause was interrupted by Hades, who stood not too far from the two. They looked up to see their master just staring at them. "If you guys want to do this sorta thing, then get a room." The god said to them.

"Oh, Hades," Said Dante in an almost panicked tone. "Uh, we were just talking things through with each other..." He released the magenta imp off the wall and pulled Pain closer to him, trying to look innocent in front of Hades.

"Whatever," Was all Hades could say about Dante's little act. "And Pain," He said to the imp before he headed off down the hall. "Clean up that mess you made back there." Without saying another word, he left the two alone.

Once he was out of sight, Dante pushed Pain away from him and scowled. "Just remember what I said, pal," The demon warned him. Then he slid an arm around the other's round waist and leaned him into a sort of romantic position, which surprised him a little, while holding his hand out and looking at him in the eyes. This time the black demon's sneer changed to a grin. "And you and I might get along." Pain just stared at him with a confused expression.

Still, the magenta imp forced a smile while trying to reply. "Uh... Sure, whatever you say." He said nervously. Even though he wanted to insult and yell at Dante, but at the same time Pain didn't want to really anger the demon.

"I thought so..." Dante snickered.

He let go of Pain and walked the opposite way Hades went. The magenta imp couldn't help but stare at him until he was out of sight. The only thought in his head was: _What just happened?_

* * *

Just a day after he was threatened by Dante, Pain still shuddered from the memory of it. Not from what Dante said to him, but the way he tried to get "friendly" with him all the sudden, as well.

During the following day, Dante had to clean out the pool of forgetfulness, since some of the other cleaners weren't able to, due to the memory loss from the waters of the pool. The black demon was careful not to get a drop of the pool water on him by using a long fishing net to scoop out whatever was in there. To him, it was more than unpleasant, but he had a job to do. When he heard Pain and Panic's faint voices coming from the hall, that made him a little furious, since he told him to stay away from Panic, but an idea came to mind, as well.

The two imps walked into the room, talking to each other. Dante didn't pay attention to what they were saying, but he still kept an eye on Pain. Neither of the imps noticed the black demon until they glanced over at the pool and saw him there, minding his own business; or so they thought. The magenta imp felt nervous, of course, and shivered at the sight of him, Panic noticed quickly. "Are you okay?" The teal imp asked his friend.

"Yeah." Pain answered, sounding almost unsure.

Still waiting for his chance, Dante kept his eyes on the two imps, not even bothering to take a quick glance to see what he was doing with the long net that the demon held an inch above the pool. As Pain walked over to where he was, he turned back to the pool, pretending he was never staring at him and Panic. _Get over here, dammit!_ The black demon screamed in his mind at the imp. Finally, Pain was close to the edge of the pool, but still a foot or two away from him. Thinking of what to do next, the black demon simply walked away from the pool. The magenta imp gave out a silent sigh of relief, but the demon wasn't done with him just yet.

The very second Panic took his eye off of him and Pain to check something on his clip board, Dante jabbed the net forward as an attempt to push the magenta imp into the pool, but thankfully Panic noticed he was tipping over on his toes as he came close to falling into the water and had dashed over and grabbed a hold onto him before he fell in. He was so close that when the teal imp caught him, his heart was pounding like a drum.

"Thanks..." Pain said to Panic. A flattered smile curved across his face.

When the magenta imp regained his balance again, both him and the teal imp looked over at Dante, who was still holding the net. Looking around nervously, the only thing that came out of him was:

"It was an accident."

An almost guilty smile covered his previous expression. The only response from the imps was a glare.

"He shouldn't have been standing near the pool in the first fucking place!" Dante proclaimed, pointing at Pain.

"I wasn't standing that close," Pain pointed out, taking a few steps toward Dante. "And you pushed me on purpose!"

"Says you!" Dante exclaimed.

Panic ran over to the two and stood between them, his arms spread across trying to separate them. "knock it off already!" He said to them, then turned to Dante. "Will you quit picking fights with Pain!"

Dante only obeyed. "Fine," He moaned, calmly, then leaned toward the teal imp with a smirk on his features. "Anything _you_ say, Panic."

Without another word, Panic made his entrance out of the room along with Pain. He was getting sick of Dante's behavior, and he hoped he'd leave him and Pain alone.

But it didn't end there... For the next few days, the demon would spend some of his time hitting Pain, picking on him, or give him a mean look. And when Pain made even the smallest mistake, Dante would rub it in his face. But the magenta imp never mentioned it to Hades, or even Panic, mainly because by the time the black demon does something like knock him over, he'd be gone before he knows it. But he was sure it was him. And he knew he'd go too far soon. The bastard even sabotaged one mission and made it look like it was all Pain's fault, and Hades punished him badly that he was still sore for a day or two. Though Panic knew it wasn't him. He could tell how much Dante hated Pain enough to stoop that low. It all made matters worse for both imps. But, thankfully, one of them came up with a plan where they could be together and the demon wouldn't have any idea of it.

Pain was wondering in an empty hall trying to find his partner. When he came around an open door, he felt someone's hands grab him and clamp one hand around his mouth and pull him into the dark room. Then the door quickly slammed shut. The entire room was completely dark and impossible to see anything. Once the hands let go of him, he glanced around cautiously, trying to find whoever it was that pulled him in. If it was Dante then he was in serious trouble...

"Pain," A voice--that Pain recognized--said to him. "It's just me."

Just hearing his voice again calmed Pain. "Panic. Boy, am I glad to see you! If I could see you." He tried to find the source of Panic's voice. "Where are ya, pal?"

"Shh!" He heard the teal imp's voice as a hand clamped over his mouth once again. "You might want to keep your voice down a little..." Panic whispered to him.

Soon, he was able to see the other's large, yellow eyes in the dark. "You know, I'm getting kind of sick of having to hide from Dante." Pain moaned.

"Yeah, me too. But this way, at least he won't bother us here."

"How do you know?"

"Because, Dante doesn't come around here as much... And neither does Hades." Panic defiantly sounded sure of himself. "Pain, just trust me on this." Pain felt Panic's arms around his shoulders.

"Okay," Pain admitted. "But could we get some light in here first?"

"Oh, right!" Panic looked around for a candle. "Where is it?... Where is it?... Here it is." He managed to light up the room a little with at least three or four thin tall candles.

"Much better."

"Better than being in the same room with Dante, at least." Panic commented.

Pain only laughed a little. "Yeah, that's true..."

The rest of their conversation went on from there. Even though they now had time alone to themselves, they still kept one thing from each other:

Their true feelings.

* * *

For the next few days, Pain and Panic were able to spend time together behind both Dante and Hades' backs. The more time they spent together, the more their relationship began to bloom, even when they didn't know it. But it was just a good thing Dante didn't know about it. Although, he did have suspicions about them whenever he couldn't find either of them. He so badly wanted to break them apart if they were having an affair, but he'd need proof first. But to him, all the proof he had was from his instincts.

... And his instincts were right.

He figured something went on between the two imps when he saw either one of them without the other. Usually, Dante would ask--rudely--if either of the imps have been with the other while he wasn't looking. They would always answer no, of course. And if one of them was Panic, he'd try to make a move on him only to be shoved away; if it were Pain, though, he'd just give him a few mean, icy cold glares.

But one day, he found them together, sitting on the hard floor in a room Dante wasn't too familiar with, and assumed it as a romantic situation, even though they were only talking. He remembered that the room was off limits to everyone in the Underworld, except for Hades. That gave Dante a little idea to keep them apart for a short while. The demon ran to Hades' throne room where he found Hades staring down at his table with the small figurines.

"Hades!" Dante yelled out to the god.

He turned in time to see the little black demon halt just inches away from him. "What is it?" Hades asked.

"What do you prefer more, two of your imps making love to each other, or being in that room you said was off limits?" The demon asked, more calmly this time.

"Neither," Answered the god. "Though I'm sure about the whole "imps making love" thing... Why?"

Instantly, a twisted grin grew on Dante's face. "Just follow me, and I'll explain..." He led Hades down the hall on their way to the room both imps were in.

* * *

The room Pain and Panic were in was a room of books, scrolls, and so many other items. They never really understood why Hades didn't want anyone else in the room. Sometimes, not even them. The only reason they chose the room was since Dante followed Hades orders, he wouldn't think of trying to find of them in there. Or, at least, that's what they thought. Both of them sat only inches apart from each other on the floor against the wall. _This is it,_ Panic thought to himself. He knew this was the chance to open up his feelings to Pain after all this time together. Although he was having a bit of a hard time thinking of how to say it to his friend. As did the magenta imp himself.

Clearing his throat, Pain finally spoke, turning to his teal friend. "What is it with Dante, anyway?"

"Um, what?" Panic asked, a little unsure what Pain meant.

"You know," Pain snorted. "Why does he act more like he wants to rip your arms off when he claims he "likes you"?" He paused for a moment. "He even tried to kill you once. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's a little nuts, don't ya think?"

Panic's only answer was, "Yeah, maybe..." Then he added in awkwardly, "But, Pain, you don't think I'm anything like him, do you?"

"Of course not!" Pain said. "Why?"

The imp turned away for a second. "Just something he told me." He could still remember that day...

* * *

"Well, if it isn't my little skinny, bug-eyed angel."

Panic turned around from his work to see Dante in the doorway. "What?" He asked with a demanding tone.

"Look, Panic," Dante began. "I come in peace."

Even with a friendly grin, the imp wouldn't trust him, no matter what he'd say or promise. "Good, then GO in peace!" Panic glared at him. But the demon still didn't move from that spot.

"Temper, temper," Dante shook his head a little. "And I thought I was cranky most of the time." This time, he walked over to Panic. By the time the imp heard the other's voice, he felt his icy cold hands gently grab a hold of his shoulders. "I know we had a rough start before, but can't you just forgive and forget?" He waited for an answer.

"After everything you did, how am I suppose to forgive _you_" The skinny imp turned to face Dante. But now, there wasn't a hint of fear on Panic's face, which seemed a little odd to the demon, just anger and annoyance. As he continued, he took a few steps towards Dante while he took a few steps back from the imp. "Why should I even trust you for two seconds! Why can't you just leave me AND Pain alone or I'll tear your own wings off..." Did he just say that?

This sudden change of Panic's behavior scared even Dante. His eyes were wide open in shock, but not because of his anger. "Was that a threat?" A creepy smile widened.

He came back to his senses, realizing what he just said. "No!" Panic denied.

"Yes it was!" In an instant, Dante brought his arms around the imp in a tight hug, which made Panic's heart skip a beat in his nervous state. Never did he see this coming. "You're acting more and more like me."

Hearing those words made Panic's mind snap.

He pushed Dante away from him as fast and hard as he could. "No I'm not!"

"Don't be so modest." Dante smirked. "We're both demons, in the Underworld, we both got yellow eyes, and you seem to be getting better with threats, too."

"I'm nothing like you..."

"Say it all you want, but the first sign of these sorta things is denial."

"How would you know?"

"I know a lot of things."

"Well, you don't know a thing about me!"

When he said that, Dante only turned his back to him and headed out of the doorway, but just before he did, he turned to Panic. "Don't I?" And with a grin, he left.

It sounded so ridiculous, he knew Dante had to be lying, but he couldn't help but feel he was right. It seemed like one of those things that wasn't true, and he knew it wasn't true, but he couldn't help but hope that it would NEVER happen as long as he lived. Just those words alone were enough to haunt him for hours, even days. Though he hoped it was just something he would eventually shake off later on.

It wasn't going to be that easy...

* * *

"Sounds a little ridiculous to me."

Panic turned back to his friend. "I know. But I can't shake it off." He felt Pain's hand on his as the magenta imp scooted just a little closer to his partner.

"Hey, I've known you as long as I've been working in the Underworld, and I know that you never were anything like Dante, and never will be. He's probably just trying to mess with ya." Pain gave Panic a reassuring smile. It was times like this where Panic would be so grateful for his friend's company. He was the only one who ever made him feel he was never alone. And he had always made him feel more calm, like there was nothing to worry about, even in the toughest of times...

... Was it just friendship, or love?

Just when they were getting closer to each other, their master's voice stopped everything.

"Can I ask what you two are doing in here?"

They whipped around to face Hades standing in the doorway, and, behind him, Dante. By the grin on the demon's face, he looked like he was about to laugh.

"Hades!" Both imps exclaimed at the same time in surprise. "We were just--We weren't--" They tried to bring up an excuse but all their words were blurted out in a mix.

"Whatever you two are doing... Do it somewhere else." Hades ordered.

He turned away, Dante looked at him with a surprised expression on his face, and the two imps ran out of the room. But Panic halted, and instead turned to Dante who still smiled at him, rather playfully.

"You _didn't_..." Panic growled.

"What? It's not my fault you weren't following the rules."

A rage was boiling up in the imp. This time, Dante had just crossed the line. He felt like punching the demon's teeth in. When he swung a fist at him, Dante not only blocked it but caught the imp's fist before it could hit him in the face in his grasp. "Careful now, Panic," He waved a finger at him in a teasing manor. "We don't wanna loose our temper, or one of us is gonna get hurt."

As if on cue, he pulled and twisted Panic's wrist, making the imp whine a little in sudden pain. It all happened too quickly. At the same time, his face had now met Dante's. Their eyes locked. He tried looking away, but it was no use. That twisted grin of his always gave Panic the creeps. "I swear, you _are_ becoming more like me..."

"Will you quit saying that!" Panic shouted as he managed to pull his wrist out of Dante's tight grasp. "You're just lying."

"Am I?" He questioned the imp, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Yes." Panic answered with a slight scowl, and walked in the direction Pain ran. Dante felt his fiery anger burn up inside of him when he remembered seeing both imps together in that room, and in the hallway once. But he still tried his best to ignore the unwanted memory, and walk down the hall, away from Panic.

As he wondered in the seemingly endless hallway, all his thoughts could focus on was the teal imp that he'd been after for so long now. The very being he had set his heart on. And the only living thing in existence that made his heart lift just thinking about him. But now that Panic and Pain are coming close together, Dante wasn't so sure if he could ever gain his trust and love again. He couldn't help but mumble all the questions in his head to himself. While he had done so, a large pair of glassy eyes belonging to a large creature watched Dante from the shadows, not taking it's eyes off him for a second. As he walked more through the hallway, it followed him.

"What the fuck does that Pain fellow have that _I _don't?" Dante asked angrily, placing both hands on his chest.

"I don't know."

A sort of childish voice came out of nowhere, which started the black demon. Turning around, eyes wide open, he looked everywhere frantically to find where the voice was coming from.

"Who's there?" The demon asked. Again, he heard a small whisper of the voice, but he didn't see where it was coming from. "Show yourself or DIE!" He finally demanded. The creature finally approached him from the shadows, but when Dante looked over his shoulder--with the feeling of someone's eyes on him--he let out a loud, sudden shriek of terror.

* * *

**Author's note:** Sorry for the long update. I was having a bad case of writers block... Yeah, I know this one's a little long, but I felt that my chapters were getting shorter and shorter, so I tried my best not to make this too short or too long. Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying my story so far. I bet you are wondering what'll happen next for Dante. Just wait for chapter 5 and it'll explain all... Or some. Because there's still more to come for Pain and Panic.

Incase you're wondering about the scene where Dante tells Panic he's just like him, that's suppose to be a flashback.


	6. Deception

**Up Rise and Downfall**

**Chapter 5**

Dante felt nearly frozen when he saw what it was.

For out of the shadows came a creature that looked almost like a cross between a polar bear and a ram. It's facial features were a lot like a ram's, it even curled ram horns, but it's body structure was like a bear, though it's legs were thin and a little short compared to the body, and it's fur was thick and almost snow white. One thing that was very noticeable about this creature was the four fangs that hang over his lower jaw, and it's large, lake blue eyes.

But then it came to him, he defiantly recognized this creature. But before he could remember the rest, it leapt at him, grabbing a hold of Dante with it's large furry arms and brought him into a crushing hug. "Oh, I'm sowy," The creature said to him.

For a second, he thought he heard a bone somewhere in his body about to snap. He tried all he could to get loose of the furry creature's hug. "Do I KNOW you?" He asked angrily as he was getting crushed by the other's hug.

"Torment," The large hairy creature said happily as Dante asked him nicely. "Don't you wemember?"

It all came back to him. "From that stupid orientation?" Dante nearly screamed. He really didn't want to remember him. Torment, of all the things that have been a bane of his existence, Torment was one of them. He was all over him at the orientation on his first day in the Underworld. At one point, he drooled on Dante's head, and nearly bit the creature's head off if it weren't for Pain and Panic. Remembering that day, he slapped himself in the face and his hand held his head there.

"Awe you okay?" Torment asked, worried.

"What?"

"Awe you awight?"

"'AWIGHT'?" The demon let out furiously. "Do I LOOK 'awight' to you?" Torment tried to think of an answer as Dante managed to jump out of his arms and on the floor. "And why the fuck are you talking like that? Are you even SPEAKING english! ARE YOU!"

"I don't know. It's just the way I am..." He shrugged.

Still a little annoyed by him, Dante asked, "Can I ask why you were following me, then?"

"I wanted to ask you something."

"What would that be?"

"Wanna be my best fwiend?" Torment scooped up Dante once again in his arms and held him close to his chest, burying the demon in his fur.

He wasn't sure what he asked at first. "Your...'fwiend'!" Dante asked, surprised of what the creature wanted.

"Yeah, my best fwiend EVER."

Dante was able to squeeze out of Torment's messy fur and looked up at him like he had asked him to be his lover or something. "Let's get something straight here, dumb ass," He said to the creature. "You don't know me, and I don't even know you. Now tell me, why in the fucking cosmos would I would ever want to be 'fwiends' with the likes of _you_?" His tone became a lot colder and bitter. And a large frown was starting to cross Torment's face.

"I thought I'd finally have a fwiend like Hades said."

"And what did Hades say?"

"It all stawted one day when I was pwaying and a lot of big people picked on me and called me howible things... Then I ended up kewing them out of nowhere." During his pause, Dante's expression seemed to change, as if he were a little more interested now. "After a while, I wan off and seemed so lost, then I asked Hades for help. And he took me away fwom all the pain, but I became a demon when I was brought down here. And he pwomised I would have a best fwiend when I'm done doing all the deeds down here, I'd turn human again and wive happiwy ever after."

That last sentence merely bored Dante. "Gee, what a great fairy tale land you seem to dwell him." He scowled sarcastically.

"Thank you." Torment smiled at him.

_Not only is he a complete child, but he's dumber than a pile of fire wood_, Dante thought to himself. After a small grunt, the demon looked back up to him again. "So, why are you called 'Torment'? What do you do down here?"

"I'm not sure, I tried to remember my real name, but it's been a while, and I've already forgot what it was... I just keep an eye on all the important stuff that Hades doesn't let anyone see, and... I dunno what else..." He tried to remember what else it was that Hades ordered him to do.

Dante's eyes widened when he heard all that Torment told him. "What was that?"

"Oh, yeah, Hades told me to make sure nobody gets into those wooms."

"Why is that?"

"I dunno, he just told me to."

They both paused. Dante was writing down a plan in his head, and a twisted grin crept on his face again. He turned back to Torment with a friendlier look on his features. "So, what was that about wanting a 'fwiend'?"

"Does that mean you wanna be my fwiend?" The white furred demon asked hopefully.

"No, it mean's I want a new job--Of COURSE I wanna be your friend." With that, Torment hugged him even tighter than he did before, and when Dante hugged him back, he grinned over the other's shoulder. He couldn't believe he found someone who was _this_ gullible. "By the way, can I call ya Tory?"

"Why?" Torment asked, pulling back the demon, looking into Dante's face.

"Just as a nickname thing between friends..."

"Oh, okay then. But what's your name?"

"Dante; Dant' for short." Torment only looked at him in confusion. "Say, Torment, wanna play a little game?"

"Sure, what?"

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"How do we pway this game, again?" Asked the large demon creature who stood next to, or rather above, Dante. Both of them were peering out of a corner and watching the two imps, Pain and Panic.

"It's simple," Dante whispered to the other. "One of them has something we have to get, so you tell Pain to come down this hall, or something like that, and once you get him out of Panic's sight, make sure he stays away from him."

"What is it we need to get?" Torment asked.

"A... Uh, a red stone."

"Why?"

"Because that's the point of the game!" Dante answered. "Once he get the stone, we win. Got it?"

"Oh, right!" Torment smiled.

"Good," Dante replied. "Now go get him." Immediately, the larger demon ran off towards the two imps, but on his way there, he stopped, and went back to Dante.

"Uh... What do I do again?" He asked.

The black demon smacked himself and ran his hand down his face in frustration. "Just grab Pain, and keep him as far away from Panic as possible!" Dante ordered.

"Okay." He nodded.

With that, he took off once again. Dante watched from around the corner. He wasn't sure at all what to expect from Torment, but hopefully, it'll work. He watched the creature just snatched Pain and run off without even a slight sound. It wasn't what he expected at all from him, but at least it got the job done.

Knowing that Pain was out of the way, this was Dante's chance at Panic, now. He quietly stepped toward the imp until he was no more than at least three inches, threw his arms around his neck and shoulder and clung onto him. Even though something like this would cause him to scream; at first his eyes snapped open all the way, his muscles froze and he spoke in an alarmed voice.

"Pain, _please_ tell me it's only you..." The teal imp moaned, although he already had a clue who it really was.

"I would, but even _I _can't lie to you, babe."

"No, _really_?" He mumbled in sarcasm. The demon only ignored it with a glare. "Couldn't you go give Hades a hug instead? I'm sure he could use one"

Dante looked away for a brief second. "I gotta admit Hades is kinda hot, or so to speak," He turned his attention back to Panic. "But my heart belongs to you and only you." He nuzzled his head into the other's shoulder.

"Yay me..." Panic groaned, glaring to the atmosphere. With the tone he spoke it in, he might as well have said, "Oh dear gods".

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"Hey! What do ya think you're _doing_!" Pain demanded as Torment held him, and seemed to be looking for something.

"Pwaying the game, siwy."

"What game?"

"The game me and my new best fwiend are pwaying." Torment answered with a bright smile. "Didn't you know?"

Pain's eyes widened slightly and raised his brow at the larger, furry creature. "What new best friend?"

"I think it was..." He tapped his chin in thought for a few seconds. When realization hit him, he answered, "Dante. Or was it Dant'?"

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"Really, Dante, I'm a little busy, I don't have time for this."

"It's always excuses with you, isn't it?" Dante asked.

Panic only tried to pry the demon's arms off him, but Dante was a little tougher than he seemed. "But really, do you MIND? I got work to do."

The black demon's smug expression didn't change. "Not at all..." He shook his head. His eyes stopped at Panic's face; then his neck, and a wide, twisted smile curled on Dante's face before he kissed the side of the skinny imp's neck.

An uncomfortable feeling shot up his body. Even though Dante had his arms around him, Panic managed to push his face away slightly with his right hand. "Uh, you _do_ know I hate you, right?"

"Aww, really?" Dante said in a disappointed tone, but with a pinch of smug at the same time. "But Panic, I know there's still a tiny bit of love for me in you. I just know there is." His voice became more husky.

"Don't you _ever_ have anything better to do than harass me and Pain?" Panic snapped at him.

"Now what you call "harassment", I call apologizing." He said, again voice low and seductive. "You've already broken my ache breaky heart... What do you say we kiss and make up?" Dante was about to kiss him on the cheek, when a voice rang out before his lips could touch Panic's skin. Both of them froze in shock and looked toward the source of the voice...

"Get your arms OFF of him!"

Pain stood there, with a scowl that told Dante he knew what he did. Still, the demon gave him an unimpressed sneer. "Well if it isn't Pain to the rescue once again!" He groaned sarcastically. The last word was nearly cut off when Pain punched him, rather hard, in the face and got him to let go of Panic. He hit the ground hard, then he sat up straight and staggered to his feet. _He throws a better punch than I thought_, Dante said to himself.

As impressed as he was to find out how strong Pain was, but still kept a glare on his face. "You gotta problem, PAL?"

"Yeah, you!" Pain answered. Dante cocked an eye brow in surprise with an insulted expression set in. "It's bad enough that you're stalking Panic, but now you got a new "friend" of yours to help!"

"We were only playing." Dante shrugged.

""playing" my ass!"

Dante was about to snap back at Pain, but glanced to his right to see Torment behind him. He calmed down slightly. Then he turned back to the two imps. "Fine, I won't be bothering you two lovers for a while..." Angrily, he turned his back on the two and walked past him, giving the larger demon a look telling him to come along. And he followed the black demon.

Pain and Panic looked at each other in confusion before trying to forget about Dante.

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After the two walked through the Underworld for a few minutes, Dante looking at each closed room with suspicion. Torment finally asked, "Why were you yewing at those two imps earwier?"

"I have my reasons." Dante answered. "Just remember not to ever listen to them."

"Why?"

"Because, they're both trouble makers and liars, so don't believe a thing they say. Believe me, I would know." Even though it didn't seem right, Torment still believed him. After all, he was his best friend, or so he thought.

"Then how come they get to work side-by-side with Hades?" Torment questioned childishly.

"Just call them lucky..."

"Okay." Torment was silent for a few moments, until he spoke again. "What are we doing again?"

The black demon turned around to face him. "Do you remember those rooms you told me about earlier?"

"Oh wight," He said, smacking a hand on his forehead. "The ones I'm suppose to keep a watch on."

"Yeah, where are they?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just because since you're my friend and all, I thought you'd let me take a look in there, is all..."

His bright blue eyes widened by what he had heard from his own "friend". "What!" Torment exclaimed. "I... I can't!"

"And why _not_?" Dante demanded.

"I'm not suppose to wet anyone go in any of those wooms. That's why." He said with an apologetic look on his features.

"Is that so?" Dante crossed his arms as he glared at Torment. "I thought we were best friends." He turned his head away from the other demon.

"But we are!" Torment protested.

The black demon grinned the other way, making sure Torment wouldn't see. This was going to be easier than he thought. He turned back to his "friend", this time, the grin was replaced with a hopeful smile. "Then you would let your best friend take a look around, wouldn't you?"

Torment bit his lower lip, wondering which decision to go with. But he wasn't sure what to say.

"Wouldn't you?" Dante repeated.

Finally, the large furry gave a heavy, surrendering sigh and answered, "Fine." He walked ahead of the other demon. "Come with me."

Dante gave himself a satisfied grin, and followed without another word. This was all too easy for him.

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**Author's note:** Okay, so the story takes a little twist, and Dante now has a pawn to help him with his plans. But there's a little more to the story than just that. You'll see. ;) And incase you're wondering why Torment uses a "W" every time there's an "L" or "R" in his speeches, is because he acts like a child and he sorta talks like one, too. Just thought I'd let ya know.

The reason I'm not using a ruler here is becuase is screwing up on me...


	7. Something's different

**Up Rise and Downfall**

**Chapter 6**

"I don't know about this." Torment said to Dante as he was about to open a door, a little unsure of the other's request.

"Don't worry," Dante assured him. "What's the worst that could happen." A grin was still on his face.

He paused to think about it. All of this didn't seem like such a good idea... "Don't ya trust me, Tory?" Dante asked him, still smiling (very faking) innocently.

Sure enough he was being honest, Torment finally opened the door and let him in. The demon stepped in first while the larger furry demon peered through the doorway. The room was had shelves of books and scrolls, along with some jars and other items scattered in the corners. Dante looked through most of the books to see most of them contained a lot of spells, and from the look of them they looked like the kind of thing he needed to regain most of the little power he had in him. Since he had some (though very little) power left, it would hopefully be easy. After a few silent seconds, Torment stepped into the room and walked up to his "friend". He peered over his shoulder, wondering what Dante was up to.

"What is it?" Torment asked in his usual naive tone.

Dante looked over to him, then back to the book he was holding; grinning slightly. "Just something I've been looking for..."

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It seemed so great to him, he had finally found one way to regain some of his power, and, not only that, but he was becoming a little more powerful than he had ever been. With each passing day he studied most of the incantations, spells, and so much more than he had expected. He made sure Torment didn't know what he was up to, but he did tell him he was using the magic because he needed it more than anything, and made him promise not to tell anyone where he was or what he was doing. And Torment kept that promise.

But, surprisingly, he got more than he expected. At first, he hated being feet near Torment, but nowadays as he was control his powers Dante was able to not only tolerate his presence, but he almost enjoyed having someone around to talk to; to share things with. Still, he once in a while tried not to. After all, he didn't want to get too close with his own pawn, and was only using him for his own needs, or so he convinced himself. Besides, he still had his eyes on Panic, and he promised himself he'd do anything to make him his, and his alone...

But no matter what he did or how hard he tried, it wasn't easy to ever get close to Panic, considering how Torment would get in the way (without even knowing it), or how Pain would interfere or be too close. Day by day, it only frustrated him, made him more angry, he cursed them both in his mind. Just when he thought he had Panic, reality smacked the truth in his face, but no matter what, he just didn't want to accept it.

One day, it all grew onto his nerves. There was one room in the Underworld which seemed like no one had been in for decades. In the large room was a book shelf on the right side of the room, a stone table in the middle against a wall, and most of the room was half coated with cobwebs. Since he thought nobody used this room anymore, Dante didn't care. He had to get some steam out of his system. If Hades gets to, then why not him? Immediately, he focused his energy on some of the objects (which when he used his powers on them they took on a black glow with a glowish white outline), and flew them across the room. With a simple wave of his hands he manipulated most of the stuff in the room, trashed nearly every space of it and everything in it's way, especially the table and book shelf. His eyes began to glow white, too.

Soon, his powers opened a few creases in the floor which spread up the wall, then to the ceiling. Once he finally calmed down, the black and white glow, the white glow in his eyes, disappeared in a heart beat, he panted a little from exhaustion of using up so much of his energy, even though he got most of the anger out of him he still felt a little peeved.

"That ungrateful little bitch!" Dante exclaimed, referring to Panic of course, as he walked over to the damaged table. "Of all I've tried to do for him, he's always gotta give me the cold shoulder! Him and that fat bastard alone!" His fist pounded the dust covered table, then pounded down his fore head a few times before letting it rest on the table. In a hopeless sigh, he just laid his arms on the table in front of him and stayed in that position for a while. He may have been angry a lot, but he hated it. Whenever he was angry, eventually he'd just end up in depression; rarely, though, but it seemed to be happening a lot recently.

After a long while of silence, the door far behind him creaked open slowly, a bit of light shown in the dark room along with the large shadow that belonged to Torment. The white furry demon peeked in to the room and saw Dante in the room he wrecked and lying against a table that looked like it had been smashed many times. He slowly walked in, closing the door behind him and when he approached the smaller demon he asked in such a sympathetic tone, "What's wong?"

Dante's head raised up quickly and turned to Torment, then shot a glare at him. "Nothing," He went for the door when the larger demon blocked his path.

"Awe you suwe?" He asked. "You don't wook so good."

"I'm fine!" Dante lashed out. "Why do you keep asking the same damn question when you know it's going to be the same answer?"

"Because, you wooked weawy sad for a second,"

"Do I LOOK sad to you!"

"You wook more angwy." Torment answered.

Dante continued to walk around the other and headed for the door. "I thought so."

"But you know," Torment once again stood in his way, crouching down to his level. "Evewyone knows that angew is awso another way to hide their sadness." Dante only glared at him, and he looked like he was about to leave. "Aw you need is a hug." He opened his arms out to the smaller demon.

"No!" Dante took a few steps back from him, but Torment continued to come closer.

"Hugs make evewyone feew better."

"I don't need a hug!"

"But evewyone needs a hug once in a while."

"Well I'm not like everyone else!"

He didn't feel like it, but he also didn't feel like protesting all day. Heaving a defeated sigh, Dante muttered, "Fine." Then he held out his arms to Torment, and he hugged him tight while the black demon only showed a discontent look on his face, all he wanted was to make it quick and get over it... But after a while it didn't seem as bad, Torment's fur may have looked a little messy, but it felt so fluffy and warm to lay against his chest. In fact, it felt pretty comforting. Still, Dante tried not to get into the moment, but when he was snuggling more into the other's thick fur, and burying his fingers into his fur, he was trying to fight back some of the tears that were about to escape his eyes. Just because he cried once before didn't mean he was going to cry in front of anyone.

"You okay, Dante?" Torment asked when he noticed some of the tears forming in Dante's eyes.

"I don't wanna talk about it..." He looked away from Torment. Not wanting to be seen crying, not even a single tear.

"You can talk to me about anything. You know that." Torment still smiled at him. Dante then sunk his head back into his fur, this time a tear managed to escape his eye. He began to tremble a little.

"It's okay to cwy, Dante. It's okay." Torment told him in a comforting tone.

At this rate, Dante couldn't control is trembling body, and he sounded like he was on a verge of a break down. He was finally beginning to sob. "No, it's not..." All his tears landed on Torments white fur. "I always try so hard to get some respect, but Panic won't even forgive me for one little screw up." Dante sniffled.

When Torment heard his words, a sad, yet sympathetic, expression took place on his face. But he appeared to be a little confused, as well. "I thought you said Panic was a twouble maker?"

"Well, I... I lied, okay!" Dante blurted out, almost without thinking.

"Why?"

"I just did... The truth is, I've done all I could to apologize, but they won't even give me a chance..." He paused to swallow.

"Don't wowy, Dante," Torment said to him as a hand stroked the back of Dante's head. "You can tell me anything. I undewstand." His tone was firm and comforting.

"Really?"

"Weawy." He nodded.

He didn't want to admit it, but Dante needed to hear that. He really needed Torment's comfort at times like this, he never really met anyone he was able to open up to. The demon hugged even tighter around the other's thick neck and ran his hands through his smooth fur. For once, he couldn't have been any more glad to have Torment around. It seemed like he was the only one whose been kind to Dante. The only one who had ever seemed to care (at least at his point of view).

Torment continued to hug him, Dante climbed up his chest and looked up into the larger demon's blue eyes for a while. He had an upset look in his eyes, but Torment still had those bright cheery eyes. Dante brought his face a little closer to the other's and tried to reach to him, while the other seemed a little confused he closed and eyes and was about to kiss him when the smaller demon's eyes popped open and he hesitated, then his mood suddenly changed.

Without warning Dante punched Torment in the nose, which caused him to cry out a little from the pain, and dropped him to bring his hands to his nose which throbbed in pain. When he landed on the floor he glared up at Torment, who asked, "What was that fow?"

"Don't be such an idiot," Dante growled. "I wasn't born yesterday, I know what you were up to!" He pointed an accusing finger at him.

Torment didn't know what to say, since he didn't know what Dante meant. "But... I don't even know what you awe talking about."

"Sure you don't." Dante muttered sarcastically. "But don't think you or anyone can play me for a fool. I'm not a soft naive moron like you!" He then walked out of the room leaving Torment completely puzzled. It surprised him on how suddenly his friend's mood changed when he was in tears then angry at him for no reason.

But even after Dante tried to convince himself that punching him was the right thing to do, it just didn't seem that way. Of course it didn't, hurting someone just because he didn't want to open himself up to anyone and showing a sign of weakness. That would be the last thing he'd ever do, he never wanted to cry or even shed a tear in front of anybody. Not even a "friend". Still, he wish he didn't have to do that.

_Why did I do it? Why?_

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Torment searched the hallways of the Underworld to find Dante, but so far he hadn't had any chance of finding him. On his way, he almost ran into Panic, when he noticed, he stopped.

"Oh, sowy!" He said. Then his expression changed a little when he realized who he was.

"Torment? What are you doing here?" Panic asked. He knew that the larger demon's duties were not to wonder in the hallways.

"I'm wooking fow Dante." He answered. "Have you seen him?"

"Not since when Pain told me that you're his new playmate."

"Yeah."

Panic only stared, but Torment couldn't read his expression, until he spoke. "I hate to spoil it to ya, but Dante's not the nice guy you think he is."

Torment lost his voice for a second. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that he's probably playing you for a fool."

"He told me not to bewieve you."

"Well he lied."

"How would you know?" Torment demanded.

Because," Panic said. "He did the same to me."

A look of realization came onto Torment's face. But he still couldn't believe it. Just earlier, he seemed so sad and vulnerable, not cold or cruel. Although he was a little mean afterwards. Dante was still his friend (at least he hoped), and he wanted to keep it that way. He was about to cry.

"He might act like your friend," Panic continued. "But I've been there. He's only using you to get whatever he wants. And knowing him, once he's done with you, he'll just push you aside like a piece of lint."

That made Torment snap. The large furry demon grabbed Panic by the throat and pull him closer to his face. His teeth were bared and snarled a little. It was scary to see a peaceful creature like him become angry and (apparently) vicious. "You awe a wier!"

"I'm a what?" The teal imp asked, his voice weak with Torment's strong hand around his neck.

"A wier!" Torment repeated. "And I'w pwove it! Dante is my fwiend, and aways will be!" With that he dropped Panic and walked off, continuing to find Dante.

He never really knew Torment, but Panic knew about how he came to the Underworld and that he was as kind and sweet as sugar. Even though he never knew him personally, Panic still hate to see someone nice as him being betrayed by Dante, just like he betrayed him. He could still remember that day... All too clearly.


End file.
